Too Strong
by Sideways Jill
Summary: Peeta has never, ever seen Katniss cry. Is she too strong for her own good? Spoilers! I own nothing! Reviews are appreciated.
1. Chapter 1

**In the third section of this story, right before the reaping, is a thing I made up. It has never been a part of the Games and was just an idea I had for another way for the Capitol to be cruel. I repeat, it is my own invention and was never actually in the Games. Trying to follow the storyline while adding parts inbetween. Enjoy!**

The teacher pulled her into the hallway and the entire class was silent. Then they both came back inside, the teacher watching her carefully, and resumed the lesson. Everyone was staring at her, though, and nobody was listening. Some kids looked scared, or ready to cry, or afraid for their safety. Everyone knew Katniss had a temper. He was the only one, though, who looked as if he wanted to hold her. The only one who cared how she felt. The teacher sat quietly at her desk, having given up on the lesson, and buried her face in her hands. It seemed like she was taking it harder than Katniss was.

Katniss Everdeen's father had just died in a mine explosion, and not one tear rolled down her face.

* * *

Mrs. Everdeen used to come with her family at least twice a week into town, to each of the shops, and stock up on their supplies. He always looked forward to these days, which were usually Monday and Thursday, to see Katniss. She held her sister's hand and smiled at people who passed by, and sometimes her father came too.

Then, when Katniss' father died, she started coming only with Prim. Everyone just figured that Mrs. Everdeen was grieving and didn't want to see anyone, but she never came back. It was two long years of Prim and Katniss going into the Hob, where he never had the need or nerve to go, and by the bakery to trade for squirrels she shot illegally. Prim always wandered over to the cakes to stare longingly at something she could never have, and Katniss went around the counter and into the back to speak with his father.

His father, too, had noticed that Mrs. Everdeen never came into town anymore. He'd once been in love with Mrs. Everdeen, and was also a caring person, much more so than his mother, and one day, while Peeta stood behind the counter wiping it down, asked about her.

"How's your mother, Katniss?" Mr. Mellark asked, holding his hands out for the squirrel Katniss was rummaging for in her bag. Peeta watched, his heart beating fast, as Katniss, straight-faced and stony, replied, "I don't have a mother." Peeta noticed out of the corner of his eye that Prim looked down at the floor, away from the cakes, and went to Katniss' side. She looped two fingers in Katniss' hip pocket, as if she were afraid Katniss would run away if she didn't have hold of her.

Naturally, Mr. Mellark couldn't keep his mouth shut and his eyes widened. "She- she _died_?" he asked in astonishment. Katniss pulled the drawstrings tight on her bag, threw it over her shoulder, and replied in a voice no child should ever use, a voice way beyond her years, "My mother died a long time ago. In a mine accident."

She grabbed Prim's hand and walked away, and Peeta noticed not one tear rolled down her face.

* * *

The line stretched from the table almost to the shops all in a row, and Peeta watched from his window. His heart broke when he saw Katniss in that line, waiting for her Survival Shot.

Survival Shots were insanely large shots that you got put in your arm either every week or every month, depending on how often you ate. Katniss usually went every week. They contained the bare minimum of the nutrients needed to survive so that the Capitol couldn't be accused of being cruel.

There were four people in front of her. They all either started crying or clutched their arms in agony when the needle went in. Katniss walked up and Peeta clutched at his shirt, turning slightly away when Katniss turned to face him. Did she know he was looking right at her? Did he know he wanted to push her away from them and feed her for the rest of her life?

Peeta had never had to get a shot. His family had struggled- who in this district hadn't?- but he had never had to resort to that. Katniss hunted and provided for her mother and her sister, but Peeta guessed that, since it was getting colder, there just wasn't enough to go around. She had been starving for her family.

The man behind the desk shoved the absurdly large needle in a vial with amber golden liquid, pulled the plunger out, and then flicked the tube to rid it of bubbles. Katniss looked almost bored, as if she were just waiting in a line to go to the bathroom, and Peeta whimpered a bit when the man rolled Katniss' sleeve up. She flipped her hair out of her face and let her arm fall to her side. The man flicked the needle again for good measure and then jammed it in Katniss' arm.

_She didn't even blink._

Peeta's mouth fell open in shock. He'd never seen anyone not cry or even flinch before! Those needles put tranquilizer darts to shame!

The man grabbed a small piece of cotton and swabbed it over where he'd given her the shot and then motioned for the person behind her to come forward. Katniss rolled her sleeve down and made her way back toward her home, and not one tear rolled down her face.

* * *

Prim was shouting at Katniss, who was pulling a red child's wagon behind her into town. Gale had come up behind Prim and hoisted her over his shoulder, walking in the opposite direction. Katniss didn't even turn around. She just stared straight forward in that determined way of hers that Peeta admired.

He'd been given the day off since so many people were in town; his mother didn't want him to screw anything up with the valued customers. He and his three friends were in their small backyard, joking and kicking an old ball around. He'd noticed Katniss when Mitchell punched him on the shoulder, smirking. He took the ball from Peeta and went to his friends.

Katniss was wearing pants that were too tight for her own good, a dark green color, a black shirt, and leather boots that went halfway up her calf. Her normal jacket was on, and her hair was braided over her shoulder. Peeta liked how she didn't try to look fancy for living in the poorest district in Panem.

She pulled the wagon further away from her sister, right down the road in front of Peeta's house, and his friends laughed under their breath. Her head whipped up and she glared at them, and they instantly lost their smiles. She gave an especially mean look to Peeta, whose cheeks burned red in shame.

"I don't know why you like her, man," Mitchell said, chest-passing the ball to Peeta, "she's a bit-" Peeta threw the ball back and hit Mitchell square in the face. "Don't even think about saying that!" Peeta warned. Mitchell gave him a dirty look and wiped the mud off his face. He dropped the ball and kicked it around their square.

They all knew Peeta liked Katniss. They all knew he'd liked her for a long time, too. They all also knew where she was going. She was going to sign up for the tesserae. Which meant she was going to get her name put in the reaping ball three more times, and Peeta hated it. He'd never had to go for tesserae. His mother wouldn't let him. She'd steal from other shopkeepers before she's let Peeta put his name in again. Why shouldn't he? Katniss had to. It wasn't fair.

"Life isn't fair, man," Tray said, kicking the ball at Peeta's shins. Peeta kicked it back and that was all they did for a long time. Then, Katniss, her red wagon loaded down heavily, came back through town with three sacks of grain and three containers of oil being pulled behind her. Peeta looked away.

The people in town stared and some of them even laughed at her. How dare they? She was in the same position they were in! They knew how hungry felt!

She gritted her teeth and pulled the wagon over a stone that had been pulled out of the ground. Mitchell had stuffed his hands in his pockets and was kicking the ball against the tree near him, but Tray had scared him and Mitchell's foot slipped, sending the ball flying right toward Katniss. Peeta covered his mouth and before he could even yell it had rebounded off Katniss' head into her wagon. Her hair had come partially unbraided and there was a red mark on her left cheek. Mitchell started walking toward her, apologizing profusely, but Katniss picked up the ball and set her wagon handle down.

Mitchell thought that Katniss was going to just hand the ball back. Peeta, who had never spoken to her a day in his life, knew she wouldn't. She gripped the ball tightly in her right hand, leaned back, stepped forward with the opposite foot, and released the ball with a grunt. It smacked Mitchell in the face in the same exact place where Peeta had, and Peeta smiled a bit. Mitchell clutched at his nose and the ball rolled to Peeta's feet. He picked it up and shrugged, shaking his head with his mouth open. He didn't know what to say. He couldn't say anything.

Katniss regarded him for a second, her eyes flashing from his head to his feet and back up, then she picked up her wagon handle, wiped her nose with the back of her hand and walked away as three little town kids laughed at her wagon. Peeta's face would've been burning right then, but Katniss walked away, and not one tear rolled down her face.

* * *

"Hold out your hand," a bored voice said. Peeta held his hand out and the woman in white clothes flipped it over, stabbed a piece of metal in his index finger, and rolled it on a square on a piece of paper. He tried not to cringe, but the woman hadn't been exactly gentle. He looked over to the girls' line and saw Katniss hold her hand out. He noticed immediately that she wore a powder blue dress and had her hair tied up. She looked nice. He had, of course, noticed her lean legs before, but they were showing now, and he liked it.

The man at the girls' table pricked Katniss' finger and she didn't even flinch. She was too busy looking over at Prim who was waiting for her, her finger in her mouth, tears rolling down her face. The man rolled Katniss' finger in her square and she walked away, leading Prim to her section. Peeta realized this was probably Prim's first reaping.

Everyone made their way to their groups. Peeta stood in his proper place and then looked over to find Katniss. She was looking in his direction, and his heart sped up at the idea that she might be searching for him, but she smiled encouragingly at... Gale. She nodded once, a kind of slow nod, and then faced forward, watching Effie Trinket on the makeshift stage. Her outfit was ridiculous, and her makeup made her look like a clown.

"Ladies first," she said in her silly Capitol accent. Her manicured talons circled around the edge of the ball, ruffling the paper slips a bit and then coming back out. She finally grabbed a slip of paper and unfolded it. She waited for a moment, and then said into te microphone, "Primrose Everdeen."

Peeta's heart stopped. A few girls clapped their hands over their mouths, and Mrs. Everdeen could be heard shrieking from the edge of the square. Katniss stared, confused, as Prim walked forward, two Peacekeeps flanking her. It sunk in to Katniss what was happening, and she started pushing people out of her way. Peeta wished she hadn't. The Peacekeepers would get after her now. Katniss didn't have to push for long, though; people made her a path.

"Prim!" she yelled. This was the most emotion Peeta had ever seen her show. "Prim!" she yelled louder. Prim turned around to face her, but kept walking forward. Effie was holding her hand out, gesturing for her to come up the steps, but Katniss yelled again. "Don't you dare!" she shrieked. The Peacekeeps who had been walking behind Prim formed a barracade to keep her from getting to her. "Prim!" Katniss shrieked. "NO!"

Prim had started crying now, but was still making the walk up to the stage. Nobody else in the square had made a sound, except Mrs. Everdeen, who was now sobbing.

Katniss pulled her arm back and punched the Peacekeeper in the face. She rushed by him and sprinted up to Prim, who had almost reached the steps, and shoved her behind her, holding her arms out as if to protect her from the woman with a pink wig.

"I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!" Katniss yelped. Peeta's eyes closed and his head fell. Mitchell clapped him sympathetically on the shoulder. He was dizzy. _Why would you do that to me?_ Peeta thought. _How could you?_

Effie stuttered into the microphone, "Oh, I believe we have a volunteer. Come on, then." Katniss started to walk toward the stage and Prim dug her heels into the dirt, pulling on Katniss' dress. Peeta was afraid, for a moment, that Prim would rip her skirt and show Katniss' underwear to everyone. Not that it would be horrible.

Gale had jogged up behind the both of them. Katniss said harshly, "Prim, let _go_!" Gale picked Prim up under her arms and threw her over his shoulder, walking away as Prim reached out and positively screamed for Katniss. Katniss pulled her face into her normal scowl and walked up the steps to stand by Effie. She said into her microphone with a happy clapp, "I'll bet my buttons that was your sister." Katniss only glared at her.

Effie trotted over to the boys' ball and took her time grabbing this paper, too. When she did, she said, "Peeta Mellark." Peeta felt as though he'd been punched in the gut again. His friends gave him a small shove in the back, and he walked slowly up to the stage. He took his place next to Effie and waited for her to make her speech. He couldn't take his eyes off Katniss, though. When she saw that Gale had carried her safely away from the people from the Capitol, she didn't look so stressed.

"I give you, the tributes from District 12!" Effie chirped. Nobody clapped. Everyone stared. Then slowly, slowly, a few people kissed the three fingertips of their left hand and raised it out to them. It meant goodbye to someone you love. Peeta knew it wasn't for him. The someone he loved was on the stage with him. Katniss stared at them and nodded once, then they were both led away. Peeta's mother was being supported by his father, and he immediately started crying. Katniss' mother was crumpled up on the ground, weeping, and not one tear rolled down her face.

**Well, how was that for a first chapter? This idea has been bugging me for a while now, and I'm having a lot of trouble with my other stories. I'll try and update soon, but it's hard. Encouragment! Next chapter up today. Review, lovies!  
~Paige**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks so much for all the positive feedback, and a special thanks to jlhumph! She keeps me going.  
I think my favorite part was when Katniss said her mother had died in the mine accident, too, because I've been thinking about a way to write that for a long time and it's true. I'm pleased with how it turned out, but it only matters if you're pleased. I feel good about this story; I've put a lot of thought into it. It won't be AU and happy like Observations, which I'm struggling with, so these updates might take a bit longer because, despite my sarcastic personality and build of a linebacker, I am a generally happy person... Except for the next five days... :/ Personal, there. Lol. So, character death in this chapter, and again another cruel Capitol invention I... invented. Lol. Not something actually in the books, it's something I've also been thinking about for a while and finally got down. So, without further (insert fancy French words here) I give you chapter 2!  
Warnings: My own inventions by Capitol, character death (not graphic but completely necessary), violent outbursts... Oh wait, that's me in the morning. Lol. Here you go lovies!**

As soon as Peeta and Katniss had said goodbye to their families and were forced on the train that would take them to the Capitol, they were sperated. Peeta was taken to a stylist who stripped him down and rubbed pink scratchy stuff all over him. It burned.

Katniss was being stripped of all the hair on her body except her head. Actually, her stylists had been instructed not to touch her hair until the head stylist came in. Someone they kept calling Cinna.

She was laying on a metal table with something like a hospital gown draped over her. A few people were busying themselves in another corner of the room, but left her alone. Then a man came in, in black pants and a black shirt, the only trace of makeup being lightly-applied gold eyeliner. It kind of looked attractive.

"Hi," he said softly, coming toward her. Katniss sat up and pulled the gown tighter around her. He would probably made her take it off anyway. She tried to feel embarassed when the people before had stripped her, but they were so unlike people it was hard to feel anything.

"I'm your stylist, Cinna," he said, holding his hand out. Katniss shook it without a word. He stared at her for a moment, then pointed. "Who did your hair?" he asked. Katniss replied quietly, "My mother." It was a style her mother had worn herself when she lived in town. Katniss didn't favor it; she preferred her regular braid.

"She has talented hands," Cinna said, coming to stand behind her. He started pulling and poking at her, too, and Katniss knew it would be a long day.

XOXOXO

Peeta sat, stark naked, on a metal table like Katniss', waiting for Portia to come back in. Being naked in front of them didn't matter. They didn't even look like people.

He kept thinking about Katniss. Were they being mean to her? Was she crying? Had she killed anyone? Peeta didn't doubt she could kill someone. She'd have to now.

About three layers of skin had been exfoliated away from Peeta. His skin was a shiny red, and it tingled. They had washed and dried his hair, shaved him a bit, and he was now being dressed. They gave him a red shirt and dark red pants, and white socks.

They told him to wait for a moment and then a boy in a white vest and white pants led him to a great room with a couch and plush carpeting. Everyone else was already there; Katniss, in black pants and a white tank top, her hair flowing over her shoulders, was curled up on the couch eating something. Peeta tried to smile a bit and found that his blinking rate had increased about ten fold. He made his way over to the couch and sat down. Katniss didn't seem to notice.

"So, until dinner's ready," Haymitch, their only living victor from their district and also a legendary drunk, said, "we're going to watch some tapes from the past games so you have an idea of what you're up against." Katniss leaned back into the couch, pressing slightly into Peeta's arm. "What're we eating?" she asked quietly. Peeta looked at Haymicth expectantly. After coming where they had come from, was it too much to ask for a little food?

Haymitch shrugged and took a heavy pull from a bottle in his hand. He clicked a button on the remote and the TV in front of them flashed to life. Immediately, tributes running in circles at the bloodbath, people hiding in trees, fires, blizzards, vast deserts, and hideous wounds were shown. Katniss set the thing she was eating down on the coffee table in front of her and Peeta saw what it was; a cupcake.

There was a whole table of sweets against the far wall. Katniss had obviously been into it while waiting for Peeta. There were two empty glasses and a dent in a bowl of fruit that Peeta could see. Everyone was silent as they watched the tributes being murdered. Then the interviews that took place beforehand flashed across the screen. Most of the costumes were amazing, and the people looked pretty happy. Peeta couldn't picture Katniss up there, smiling at the Capitol.

Haymitch suddenly jumped up and yelled, "Food!" Everyone flinched except Katniss. She vaulted off the couch and toward the table. Peeta folllowed, and he made sure he got a seat directly across from her. Everyone started eating right away, and Peeta knew he would regret eating as fast as he did. He was used to District 12 food, not rich Capitol food, and felt like he was turning green. He thought Katniss looked a little sick, too, but she wouldn't stop eating.

Katniss pushed her plate aside and an Avox came to clear it. Katniss looked up to mumble, "Thank you," but she stopped dead, her mouth wide open. The Avox's eyes popped but she didn't say anything. She quickly took Katniss' plate and rushed away. Katniss stared after her. She only turned back around when Peeta nudged her under the table. He cocked an eyebrow but she shook her head, sighing and looking back to her plate. She stared for a moment and then pushed it away. A different Avox brought her a cup full of creamy brown liquid. It was steaming. She stared at it for a moment and then looked up. Cinna smiled at her, his eyes twinkling, and he said, "It's called hot chocolate. Try it."

Katniss tipped it up to her lips, as did Peeta, and then couldn't stop. She didn't set the mug down until it was empty, and then they brought her another cup. Katniss had to stop herself after this, because her stomach was really starting to ache.

Everyone sat back and was making small talk, and then a very scared looking Avox came in the room. This girl looked almost frightening; the contrast between her fire red hair, pulled tight in a bun, and her pale skin was startling. She quickly went to Katniss and, without meeting her eyes, placed two black roses on the table in front of her. She bowed quickly and then ran away. Everyone at the table stared open-mouthed at the roses, each of which had a tag tied to the stem. All the thorns had been removed.

"Katniss..." Peeta whispered in agony. Katniss blinked once, pursed her lips to the side, and picked up the flowers. The scent of the first one reached her nose, and she wrinkled it in disgust. It didn't smell like a flower. It smelled like death, which was what it represented.

The tag that hung from the stem spun lightly in a breeze that came from nowhere, and Katniss grabbed the tag. It said "Primrose Everdeen" in fancy script, and underneath said "Pneumonia." Katniss sat the flower down and reached for the other. It said, in the same fancy script, "Mrs. Everdeen", and underneath it said, "Starvation due to refusal to eat". Katniss threw this down and picked up Prim's flower. Prim was gone. Had the Capitol killed her? Probably. Would they own up to it? Never.

Katniss stared at the rose, letting the tag hang off it. Prim was so small. She couldn't fend for herself. She had probably swallowed a tapeworm, or starved to death. And her mother! 'Starvation due to refusal to eat'? What did that mean? Were they trying to say she was depressed and wouldn't eat anything? Whenever Katniss came home with a turkey, it was equally shared.

Effie set her fork down at dabbed at her mouth with a napkin. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but no sound came out. Katniss smiled a bit at the rose with Prim's tag hanging off it. _She isn't suffering anymore,_ Katniss thought, _she won't have to watch me die._

Katniss' head twitched a bit to the side. She chuckled down at the flower. Was this how they did it in the Capitol? A black flower made it better? A black flower says "I'm sorry"? A black flower puts food in her sister's stomach and brings her father back from the dead? Because that's all she needed! That's all it would've taken! That's all it would've taken for the world to be right, but having a family was too much to ask, wasn't it? Capitol people could have whatever they wanted! When someone died in the Capitol the whole world is supposed to grieve, but when someone from District 12 dies a black rose takes care of it?

"... doing well-" Katniss' head whipped up. She shook her head slightly and blinked really fast. "Sorry," she said, "I didn't hear you." Effie looked extremely startled, but repeated what she said. "Well, doing well in the Games could be your chance to get even." Katniss watched Effie for a moment, shredding her napkin in her hands, and said simply, "Even won't make my sister's heart beat."

Everyone drew their breath in and some stylist with purple hair stifled a sob, but just then an Avox brought a cake out from the kitchen area. No one said a word as he sat the cake on the table and reached out. A few moments later, a small flame flickered to life, spreading over the perfect icing. Soon the whole cake was on fire, and then in one second it all went out. Normally, someone probably would've clapped. Everyone was just staring at Katniss.

"Is it alcohol that makes it burn?" Katniss asked. Peeta didn't miss the glinting in her eyes when she said 'burn'. Cinna nodded meekly from his place at the other end of the table and mumbled, "Yes, but the alcohol burned off." Katniss nodded. Haymitch, obviously trying to lighten the mood, slapped his knee and yelled, "Darnit!" He bursted out in laughter and Katniss smiled at him, and everyone else tried to join in. The laughter was obviously fake, but everyone grabbed their forks and reached for a piece of cake. Except Peeta. Peeta was still watching Katniss to see if she'd cry, or throw something, or slit her throat with her butterknife. Anything. She didn't, though. She picked up her roses, nodded once at Effie, and stood up from the table. Peeta silently watched her go. Cinna buried his face in his hands. Effie sniffled and Haymitch took a long drink from his bottle. There was deafening silence and then a hideous shattering, and Peeta got up to follow Katniss.

By the flower petals scattered all over the floor, Peeta guessed that Katniss had thrown a potpourri bowl against the wall. The glss shards littered the shag carpet and Katniss was crouching near her closet. Peeta closed the door behind him and started to walk toward Katniss, but she stood up, ripped a framed mirror off the wall and threw it right past Peeta's head. He threw himself to the left and missed it, but Katniss didn't stop. She grabbed everything that was breakable near her and threw it at something else. Vases, picture frames, mirrors, anything. And then, when she had run out of things to throw, she walked right over to the wall and punched it. The wall broke and her arm went through, halfway up to her elbow. She pulled her arm back out, letting it fall to her side, and Peeta, from his place pressed against the far wall, saw that it was covered in drywall.

She balled her fists and ducked her head, and let out one long scream. Peeta counted ten seconds of raw screeching. She didn't stop or take a breath, and Peeta was sure she was trying to get Prim to hear it from her place in heaven.

Finally she stopped and fell to her knees, gasping. Peeta stared at her for a moment, feeling as though he were about to cry, and then whispered, "Katniss?" She didn't answer him. She only stood up and walked to her bed, sat on the edge, and then flopped backward. She reached upward for the roses, and held them to her chest. She was breathing heavily and her face screwed up in agony, but she didn't cry. She gasped up to Peeta, who was now leaning over her, "I'm sorry you had to see that." Peeta was at a loss for words. He didn't say anything.

Katniss pressed both of her hands to her forehead. Peeta's heart was ready to beat out of his chest. "She was so young," Katniss whispered. Peeta only watched her. "Her life hasn't even started yet," Katniss moaned. Peeta pressed his lips together. "She was my baby," Katniss moaned, and she rolled over on her side. "It's okay to cry," Peeta whispered brokenheartedly. Peeta threw himself down on the bed and wrapped his arms around her, and she started sobbing into his chest. It pained him to know that their first hug was because her mother and sister were dead. "She was just a baby," Katniss sobbed. Peeta held her tighter and allowed himself a few tears.

Peeta's shirt soon became soaked, but he didn't care. This was the first time he'd ever seen her cry. Everything in her past she'd ever had a reason to cry about, every time her stomach hurt with hungry, every time a kid picked on her because she was from the Seam, every time she'd had to stare at her shell of a mother came flooding out now. She screamed and kicked so hard that Peeta had to wrap his legs around hers and squeeze until she stopped. He held her against him and scooted further up. He pulled the covers back and shoved her under them, and then went under with her. She was still crying, but it wasn't loud anymore. It was the kind of crying that made a lump swell in your throat, the kind of tears that slowly made their way down your face for everyone to see, the kind that proves that you _know_ what pain is.

Katniss wrapped her arms around Peeta's neck and e felt like something was wrong. Well, wronger than what had already happened. Katniss suddenly pushed away from Peeta and sat up and frowned down at him. Her eyes were red and swollen and she was still gasping. She crossed her arms and warned, "If you ever tell anyone you saw me crying I'll rip your throat out with my teeth." Peeta shook his head and sat up next to her. She nodded, satisfied, and stared straight ahead. Eventually Katniss heaved a sigh and said, "Why did you come in here?" Peeta only looked back, as if saying, _You're the only one in Panem who doesn't know I love you. You know that, right?_ She kept going. She said, "Weren't you afraid I would kill you? Weren't you afraid for your life?"

Peeta shook his head sullenly. "I was afraid for _your_ life," he said. Katniss raised an eyebrow and snorted. "You thought I would try to kill myself?" Peeta shrugged again. Katniss gathered her hair in a ponytail at the nape of her neck, but she didn't have a hair tie so she just let it go. She pursed her lips. "I'm in no rush to die. I'm not ready to go to hell yet." Peeta laugehd a bit at this. "Why would you go there?"

Katniss smiled back and replied, "I've apparently done _something_ wrong." She cast another distatsteful look at the roses, which had fallen on the floor. She got out of the bed and Peeta's face fell, but he stayed where he was. "Whatcha doin' now?" Peeta asked conversationally. Katniss went into a small room attatched to her bedroom and Peeta heard running water. "Showering," she replied morosely.

Peeta squeezed his eyes shut and fell back on the bed. Did she know what she had just done to him? He closed his eyes and waited for a moment, then looked up.

_Katniss had left the door open._

His eyes widened when he saw her clothes in a heap on the floor. His breathing sped up when his eyes travelled higher and he saw Katniss' perfect body through the blurred glass door on the shower. He could only see her outline, but that was enough. At first he felt guilty for peeping, especially when she was hurting so badly, but he wasn't hurting anyone, right? He had dreamed about what she had looked like, he had prayed for this moment. He wasn't a bad person. He didn't hurt people. This would be okay. Just for a second. Right?

Wrong. It was not for a second. Apparently, figuring out the shower controls was complicated and Katniss struggled with it for a long time, which meant squealing and hopping around. At one point, when the water ran cold for five minutes, Peeta buried his head under the covers. When he looked up again, Haymitch was leaning in the doorway. Peeta jumped and pulled his knees up to his chest, embarrassed, but Haymitch smiled knowingly at him. He motioned for Peeta to go out there with him. Peeta was working on slowly sliding out of the bed, but he made a mistake and looked over at Katniss. She apparently dropped something and was now squatting down to pick it up, giving Peeta a lovely, blurry, side-profile of her entire body. Peeta stared for a moment, one glorious moment, then clapped his hands over his eyes and stumbled blindly to the door until Haymitch started laughing. They were in the same kind of kitchen except most of the lights were out. Effie was in the next room over, touching up her lipstick before bed.

Haymitch drank something from a brown bottle. "So, you're a little peeper, aren't you?" Haymitch said, smirking. Peeta's face burned red as even Effie turned around to give him a look. Peeta mumbled, "She didn't shut the door." Haymitch laughed loudly and Peeta turned back around, hoping Katniss hadn't heard. "And you couldn't shut it?" Haymitch asked incredulously. Peeta sighed in exasperation and threw his hands up. "Would you have shut the door, Haymitch?" Peeta growled. Haymitch scrutinized him for a moment, then gave a low, long whistle. "No, sir," Haymitch said. "She is somethin' else." Peeta nodded in agreement.

"I just wanted to know," Haymitch said, "what happened in there. How much stuff did she break?" Peeta shrugged and said, a bit offended, "I think she was entitled." Haymitch nodded. "Tell her that tomorrow we have a bunch of interview training, and the day after we'll get to the Capitol, so get rested up. Okay?" Peeta nodded, and Haymitch pointed over his shoulder. "Better get back in there." Haymitch shoved something in Peeta's hand and pushed him back into the room just as Katniss emerged in her pajamas. Cruel shorts and a tank top. She looked at Peeta like he had four heads. He looked down to the thing in his hand and sputtered.

Haymitch had given him a bottle of wine. There was a cork in the top, and it had obviously been chilled. He shook his head, trying to deny what Haymitch had done, but Katniss held a hand up and pulled the covers back from the bed. Peeta turned to leave, as she was obviously getting ready for bed, but she said quietly, "You can sleep here. I want you to. I don't want to be alone."

His eyes popped wide. He stuttered, "Are you sure?" She nodded and slid into the bed, and Peeta bolted from the room. Dropping the bottle in Haymitch's lap, he charged into his room and flung open the dresser. He grabbed the nicest pajamas he could find, and he even brought a new pair of boxers, and Haymitch leaned in the doorway. "What's your deal?" he asked, taking a swig from the wine bottle. Peeta yelled frantically, "She said I could sleep in her room- in her bed!" He threw a T-shirt over his shoulder and slammed the dresser shut, running past Haymitch. He stopped when Haymitch started laughing at him. "Do you want Effie to get your makeup ready?" Peeta glared at him and lowered his voice to a deadly whisper. "Do you know how many times I've wished for this? I just saw her in the _shower_," he hissed, gesturing wildly to Katniss' room, "and now she wants me to sleep with her! Do you know what that means?" Haymitch shook his head, amused. Peeta continued scathingly, "It means that I have to be perfect! If I make her hate me, she'll hate me!" Haymitch laughed again and clapped him on the shoulder. "Calm down, you'll be fine. Make it count- you might die in a few days." He winked at Peeta and went back to his room where all the booze were.

Peeta went back in Katniss' room and went in the bathroom to quickly change. He made sure his hair was ruffled just right, he brushed his teeth, put on deodorant, and even thought about cologne, but didn't want it to look like he was trying too hard... whic, of course, he was.

He brushed his teeth one more time and then emerged into her room. She was on her side, whispering to herself. Peeta heard, "I miss you, Prim. You too Mommy. Tell Daddy I said hi. Goodnight." She sniffed and then turned around to face Peeta, who was standing there in a green T-shirt and shorts. He went around to the other side of the bed, pulled back the covers, and slid in before he lost his nerve. His leg immediately brushed against Katniss' bare thigh, and it took everything he had not to groan. Katniss wiped a tear off her cheek and smiled at him. "I'm not so sad," she said, snuggling into the covers, "nobody can hurt them anymore, and Prim and Mommy can be with Daddy." Peeta smiled back at her, laying flat on his back. He thought about curling up on his side, facing away from Katniss, when she, too, on her back, touched her head to Peeta's shoulder. It wasn't resting on his shoulder or anything, but they were touching. And would be. For eight hours.

Just before Peeta fell asleep, he felt Katniss slip her ankle over his and turning slightly into him. He moved his arm like he was going to put it around her, but decided not to. _One step at a time_, he thought.

**Well, I hope that pleased. I just hated how Prim died in the end so... I killed her sooner. Does that make sense? I kinda thought that it would be good that she wouldn't have to watch Katniss in the Games, so... Yeah. Lol. Well, I am going to bed. And Peeta is there. Well, a poster of Peeta is on the ceiling, but... One step at a time...  
Review loves!  
~Paige**


	3. Chapter 3

"Nobody is ever going to like you unless you do what we talked about."

That was the last thing Haymitch said to Katniss before she went up on stage to be interviewed by Caesar Flickerman. She glared stony-faced at him, then blinked once and went on the stage. Peeta was trying to be confident in her, but even he was having difficulty.

She had tried very hard to be what Peeta thought was kind for Katniss. She had no reason whatsoever to be kind to anyone; her entire family was dead, she had starved for the last half of her life, and was being forced to be in the Hunger Games. She shouldn't have to be nice to anyone. She wasn't. As nicely as Peeta could put it, Katniss' life sucked. She had been forced to put up with so much and look what she got in return. One thing Peeta could never say, though, was that Katniss ever gave up and cried.

Katniss mounted the stage and made her way over to the chair by Caesar, who looked very at home there. He asked her something but she just stared at the audience. Caesar said, "Katniss?" and she refocused on him. Peeta, Effie, and Haymitch were watching her on a screen backstage, but none so closely as Haymitch. He glared at the TV, willing her to make a mistake, to ruin it for the both of them. Peeta watched tentatively, almost as though he were afraid to look at the screen for fear Katniss would start slaughtering everyone there.

Dazed, Katniss asked, "What?" Caesar, evidently feeling sorry for her, laughed it off and said, "I said hello." Katniss forced a feeble laugh and, her elbow on her knee, waved a hand. "Hi," she said. Caesar laughed, pointed to her sideways, and leaned out to the crowd. "Isn't she adorable?" he asked. The crowd laughed in response and Caesar leaned back, straightening his jacket. "So, Katniss," he said, getting down to business. Katniss tried to look interested in what he was saying, but everyone could tell she just wanted to be out of everyone's vision. "What's your favorite thing about being in the Capitol so far?" Caesar asked conversationally. Katniss, not missing a beat, replied sourly, "Eating."

No one said a word.

Haymitch's head fell into his hands and Effie turned away to dab at her makeup. Peeta saw, reflected in her vanity, that her eyes were closed tight and she appeared to be mumbling. Peeta looked back to the TV.

Caesar didn't take this the way she meant it, or didn't appear to, at least. He turned his head and asked, "What's your favorite food?" Katniss stopped for a moment, thinking, and Haymitch growled, "Don't mess it up!"

Katniss replied, "The lamb stew."

Haymitch's breath whooshed out with a "Thank God," and he let his head fall to his knees.

XOXOXO

_Katniss stalked into the bakery, and Peeta fumbled with the bread pan he was holding. He carefully pulled it out of the oven and placed it on the racks to cool, wiping his hands on his apron. Katniss didn't wave or smile at anyone in the shop, but she did nod at Peeta's dad, who had been expecting her and was waiting behind the counter. She had brought Prim with her, and judging by the bulge under the coat Katniss usually wore, she had brought something harvested from the Meadow. _

_"Hello Katniss, Prim," Mr. Mellark said pleasantly. Katniss nodded and Prim smiled. She looked so much different than her sister. Prim appeared to be something around nine or ten; she hardly cleared Katniss' elbow and had trouble focusing on anything. Her eyes darted to all the things in the shop, to all the people and objects moving outside the windows. _

_Peeta moved out behind the counter, trying to go unnoticed, as he always did whenever Katniss came in the shop. He grabbed a rag he had stashed under the counter and started to wipe down the counter, pushing handfuls of flour on the floor. Katniss heaved a leather bag on the counter, not paying any attention to the few people around her, and opened it. She spun it around so that Mr. Mellark could pick out the things he was willing to trade for. He almost always took everything. _

_Peeta watched Katniss from under his curly hair. He thought absentmindly that he would need his hair cut some time soon. Katniss rocked back and forth on her heels, looking over her shoulder every now and then. Peeta was content to watch her. She was so beautiful..._

_Prim, one arm holding the flaps of her jacket closed, tugged on Katniss' shirt. Katniss looked down to her and asked, "What?" Prim pointed to her belly and then to Mr. Mellark. Katniss stared for a moment and then nodded. She held her hand out and Prim carefully opened the jacket. As if she were extracting a bomb, she pulled out a carton full of huge purple grapes. Katniss took them from her and placed them on the counter. Mr. Mellark cocked his head and Katniss said quietly, "Rasin bread." Mr. Mellark nodded and then said, "Thank you, Prim. Did you help get those?" Prim, beaming wide, shook her head no. Mr. Mellark laughed and went back to the ovens to get their usual trade. This left Peeta on one side of the counter, trying to look busy, while Katniss stood there, waiting. KAtniss did not pay him any attention; she stared at the floor, waiting. _

_Peeta took this opportunity to try and steady himself. She was just a girl. They hadn't had any contact in nine years, except that day he gave her the bread. She would be worried if she knew how often he thought about that day, how often he wished he could've done more..._

_Prim trotted over almost directly in front of Peeta, who was slowly wiping the wooden counter in circles. She pressed her face against a dusty glass display that held the few cakes Peeta decorated. She immediately noticed a bright purple one with pink flowers and a curly border. The center was left empty of words and design; Peeta thought it one of his more tasteful. _

_Prim's nose pushed up like a pig as she stared at the cake. Her eyebrows furrowed. Peeta watched her for a moment, then his eyes returned to Katniss. There were dirt smudges on the sweaty skin of her neck. Peeta sighed. _

_"Katniss," Prim whispered, so quietly that no one heard. Peeta only knew she did this because the breath that came with the words fogged up the glass. She spoke louder. "Katniss," she said, reluctantly pulling away to grab Katniss' wrist. "Katniss," she said again urgently. Katniss looked down at her and frowned a bit. "What?" she asked quietly. Peeta was still watching them. _

_"Katniss, can we get that cake for Momma?" Prim asked. Katniss' mouth opened a bit, as if she were struggling for words. She swallowed and her nostrils flared. Prim stared up at her expectantly. She nodded encouragingly. Mr. Mellark came back and placed two loaves of bread on the counter, smiled, though Katniss didn't notice, and returned to the back. Prim tugged a bit on Katniss' wrist, trying to get an answer. "Momma doesn't want cake," Katniss said, shaking her head and turning away. _

_Prim wouldn't give up. "Can we get it for us, then?" she asked hopefully. Peeta hadn't breathed since Prim said 'mother'. Katniss glared at the floor beside Prim, shook her head sadly, and grabbed up the bread. She looked close to tears. Peeta saw that Katniss rubbed her right hip pocket, where people usually kept their money. Katniss sniffed, composed her face into her usual scowl, and motioned for Prim to follow her. "Not today," she said gruffly. _

_Not even the sound of loud, rough voices coming in waves from the people outside the open door could mask the sound of Peeta's heart shattering. _

Peeta bolted upright in his bed. His sheets were sweaty and his blanket was crumpled on the floor. He let his head fall back, trying to keep from crying. Today was the day he would be forced in the Games. Today was the day Katniss might die. He might lose Katniss today.

He gave another shaky breath, stood up, and made a path directly to the shower. Portia would probably scrub him down herself anyway, but hot water seemed like a very good idea right now.

Peeta stripped, stepped in the shower, and pressed the first appealing button. He was immediately hit in the face with an icy torrent of fruity smelling water. He groaned and stepped out of the water's way. He reached around and pressed another button, and the water turned warm and smelled like roses. He threw up his arms, exasperated. "Now I'll have tributes _and _bugs after me," he grumbled. Peeta moved forward and leaned into the water, letting it run over his face. He just stood there until the water ran cold again, and then stepped out.

Peeta traded his sweaty shirt for a clean one, pulled on the same pants he'd been wearing before, scrubbed his wet hair with a towel and made his way down the stairs. A few Avoxes lingered here and there, but otherwise no one was out. Peeta took the stairs slowly, hoping that maybe he wouldn't be found there and could go home. But then he started to walk normally again, kicking himself. _You can't go home without Katniss, you jerk,_ he thought angrily.

At the bottom of the stairs there was a blurred glass dor, much like the one on the shower that Katniss had been in. He closed his eyes, trying to imagine his legs in the shower next to her, but he couldn't. Not now. Not when she could be taken away from him forever.

Peeta opened the door and stepped out. HE, apparently, was on a balcony, because he could see over the Capitol all the way to the mountains in which their district was nestled. Haymitch was leaning on the railing, a stout brown bottle in his hand. Peeta walked over to him and leaned on the railing. Haymitch said nothing for a moment, then mumbled, "You should be sleeping."

Haymitch did not appear to be drunk at all. He was in fresh clothes, his hair was combed, and he smelled faintly of Capitol shower. Peeta couldn't imagine he was handling this day very well, either.

Peeta shook his head, turning away. "Nightmares," Peeta explained. Haymitch asked, "The Games?" Peeta shook his head and replied, "Katniss." They were both quiet.

Peeta sighed, his breath coming out in a cloud of fog. It blinded him for a moment. He and Haymitch stood there for a long time, until the fog over the mountains became thinner and then disappeared and the dew on the small squares of manicured grass evaporated. People with blue hair and fluffy pink dogs started to emerge from their houses and the pavement started to sizzle. Haymitch put hand on Peeta's shoulder and then started to walk toward the door. "Time to go," he threw over his shoulder.

Peeta stood up and glanced one last time at the hills where District 12 was, the place he hated with all his heart, and wished he and Katniss could go back there.

**So sorry that took so long. I've been really busy with school projects and everything (I have to do 28 hours of community service and I've got, as of now, 6). Plus, unfortunately, I've got PSSA's this week. (Pennsylvania State Student Assesments) Those tests determine whether or not I fail the grade, so... I can't repeat 8th grade. I'm only 13! I can't handle all that again! Lol. Probably no updates for a while, but I'm not promising anything. Lol. So, reviews mean so much, especially the detailed ones where you tell me what you liked. I love those. You know, I have a folder in my e-mail where I save all the reviews. If you wana make that folder, review!  
Thank you so much for everything I've gotten so far. Each and every review makes my day. I love you all so much. Review!**


	4. Chapter 4

_He's with the Careers... I hate him. I HATE HIM! _Katniss thought.

This wouldn't do. He was in love with her, supposedly, and being a jerk to him would get her nowhere. She would have to try and see reason, understand that this would help them. But she didn't want to.

They had her treed, circling every side of the tree so they could be sure she couldn't escape. Peeta, who had looked close to retching when he'd seen they'd found her, stood directly in front of the tree, polishing his spear on his shirt. Katniss glared at the ground next to him. He did not look at her.

"If you're gonna be with us you'd better start pulling your weight, Lover Boy," Cato said, pinning a square of nylon between two low branches of the tree. Peeta nodded and took a step forward, but they had already done everything. Glimmer settled down under the nylon, ankles crossed in front of her, and rummaged in the backpack next to her. Their camp was overflowing with supplies... Peeta chanced a look up and saw that Katniss had a single backpack.

Katniss swung her legs around, revealing the burn mark on her thigh. Peeta cringed, but tried to pull his face into a mask of indifference. She rested her elbow on her other leg and rested her chin on her fist, swinging her feet like a toddler from a swing. "So, how's the weather been for you guys?" Peeta thought, in a split second, that this would give the Capitol a show. Surely that was what Katniss wanted? Cato looked up at her, surprised. He shrugged after a moment, turning back to his sleeping bag. "It's been a bit warm for me," Katniss called down.

Peeta looked up at her, still rooted to the same place he'd been when Katniss had reached the top branch. He squinted up at her, trying to think. "Who wants to go hunting with Clove?" Cato asked, shaking him from his thoughts. Katniss silently raised her hand from the tree, but nobody but Peeta noticed. "I'll go," Glimmer said, brandishing a silver bow and arrow. Peeta, who was rubbing the tip of his spear with his shirt, did not have to look up to see Katniss' expression. Her mouth would open for a second, but then it would close and she would glare in the other direction, the same way she did when she saw something else she couldn't have.

"I just wanna test it out first, though," Glimmer said. She knocked an arrow to the bow, pulled the string back, held it up to Katniss, and before Peeta could even scream she released the string, sending it flying straight for Katniss' head. The arrow that Peeta had thought was going for Katniss' head was really not; the arrow missed by a mile, lodging in the tree above her head. Katniss laughed out loud, pulling the arrow from the tree. Glimmer's face burned red and she reached for another arrow. Cato came quickly behind her, stealing the tightly woven quiver away. He scowled and said, "You'd better let Clove do it, you can't shoot worth anything." Glimmer's mouth opened and she was about to protest, but Cato silenced her. "Just- just go," he demanded. She took the quiver and Clove followed her off into the woods.

Now there was one boy and Cato left, besides Peeta, and Katniss, who had tucked the silver arrow away in her backpack. She twisted around in the tree again, so that she was facing the trunk now, and leaned back, like she was in a hammock. Peeta moved a bit toward the tree, but saw that Cato had seen and moved back.

Peeta, even though his legs were aching, stayed in the same spot, staring up at Katniss, while everyone around him set up sleeping places. Cato even left a place for him, though Peeta only sat down. A small fire had been made without Peeta noticing it, but now it was the only way he could see Katniss. Only Cato was awake, though barely. "I'll be guard," Peeta offered. Cato grinned at him, rubbing his eyes. "Why?" Cato asked, sitting up against the tree. "So you can help her run away?" Peeta looked quickly up at Katniss, who was watching, then made sure Cato heard him say, "That won't help anyone."

Cato frowned a bit, but crossed his arms. "I'm still staying up," Cato insisted. Peeta shrugged. "Fine," he said, sitting on the ground. He kept his spear by his side.

"I love you, Peeta," Katniss whispered.

Peeta's head shot up, his mouth open, trying to figure out what he'd just heard. Cato was now watching him closely. Peeta gasped, then leaned forward, pushing himself with the heels of his hands. "You- you what?" Peeta whispered back. Katniss dug her fingernails into the bark, leaned forward, and repeated, bottom lip quivering, "I love you." Peeta's eyes softened and before he knew it he was crying. He wasn't sobbing, but tears were streaming down his face because he'd just heard the one thing he'd said to himself when he was alone, pretending it was her voice, the one thing he'd waited his life to hear.

"I love you too, Katniss," Peeta mumbled brokenly, wiping his face. Cato snorted softly, settling back down. Glimmer shifted in her sleep and draped an arm over his waist. "Stay awake, Lover Boy," Cato warned. Peeta nodded, then looked back up at Katniss. She leaned back in her tree so the shadows covered her face once more.

XOXOXO

_"Marry me?" he asked quietly, pulling her toward him. She smiled hugely and nodded, then cupped a hand on the back of his neck, pulling his mouth toward hers. Their noses touched, and she giggled, and then she turned her head slightly to the right. Their lips were almost touching, he had almost kissed her, they were so close, he could feel her breath on his face-_

Something cold and wet his cheek, and he started. He expected to recieve another slap, hear, "Get up, stupid!" and be rolled from his bed, but the wet leaves under him told him different. The jacket on him was foreign, and this was the first time he'd ever woken up under the sky. His eyes immediately found Katniss in the tree, leaning out, holding her hand up. Peeta looked around him and saw that everyone else was asleep. He stood up quickly. Katniss mouthed silently and pointed to the ground next to him, and Peeta looked over to see a spear laying on the ground. He stooped and picked it up. Katniss flashed him a thumbs up, eyes brighter than he'd ever seen them, then mimed like she was holding the spear. She lifted both hands over her head, held them there for a moment, and then brought them down swiftly. Peeta squinted and shook his head, trying to understand.

Katniss rolled her eyes exasperatedly, and Peeta would've felt stupid had they not been in the Hunger Games. Katniss dragged a thumb nail across her throat and then pointed down to Cato, who was sleeping with Glimmer curled up behind him. Peeta's eyes widened, but he knew that this was something he had to do. He started to walk toward Cato, spear held up above his head, but Katniss waved for his attention and he stopped. She rummaged in her backpack and Peeta silently willed her to go faster- the breaking sunlight would wake everyone soon-

She emerged from the backpack with the silver arrow in her hand. She made to toss it down to him but before she could Peeta flew backward. The air was forced from his lungs and the spear rolled away. Cato punched Peeta in the throat, expelling the little air he'd managed to pull in, and hissed, "I _knew_ you would try and help her!" I knew it!" Peeta struggled against Cato's hands, but the boys he wreslted in school had nothing on Cato. He'd been fed well all his life and had been trained properly, and Peeta was street-strong. He looked up to Katniss, who was working with something on her waist, and vaguely noticed Cato reaching above him to grab the spear. Katniss gave a grunt as Cato held the spear above Peeta's head, grinning evilly down at him.

Cato wiggled his fingers on the shaft of the spear, getting a good grip, and then shrugged his shoulders in that carefree way of his. Peeta could just see his mother screaming now. Peeta looked up to the tree; he wanted Katniss to be the last thing he saw before he died, wanted her to know how much he loved her. He mouthed 'I love you' to her, except she wasn't there.

Cato's forehead crashed into Peeta's and he cried out. He held onto the spear, however, but did not have enough time to do anything with it before a silver arrow plunged through his throat, spraying Peeta's face with warm blood.

Katniss jumped off Cato and Peeta pushed him away. Katniss wrenched the spear from Cato's hand and turned around to see Clove struggling with a knife she had tucked in her sock and Glimmer trying to knock the arrow to the bow. Glimmer pulled the arrow back and pointed the tip at Katniss, but heard the cannon shot that followed Cato's death and screamed. Her hands were shaking, and so were Clove's, as she gasped, "You killed him!" Katniss held the spear silently, glaring at her. She moved in front of Peeta, protecting him, and started to move forward. Glimmer noticed and pulled the bowstring tighter, screaming, "No! I'll kill you!" Peeta's heart throbbing in his ears, he tried to swallow the lump in his throat, and then shook his head, trying to clear away the whizzing sound.

An arrow stuck in the top of Katniss' backpack, which she had been smart enough to bring down from the tree, and Katniss took this opportunity to disarm Glimmer. She rolled forward on her shoulder and covered the distance between her and Glimmer, wrenching the bow away. Katniss used her free hand to shove the spear into Glimmer's chest, then jumped up and kicked the knife away from Clove, who had been ready to drive it into Katniss' throat. Katniss jumped back in front of Peeta, pulling the arrow from her backpack and knocking it to the bow. Clove's hands flew up beside her head and her mouth opened wide, but before any pleas could come Katniss released the arrow and cut off Clove's words in her throat.

Two cannon shots puncuated their deaths, and Katniss slowly lowered the bow. She stalked forward, stole the two arrows from Clove and Glimmer's bodies, took the quiver, and turned to face Peeta. "Come help me," she said quietly, stooping beside Clove. Katniss reached for Clove's body and Peeta thought for a split second that she was going to suggest they eat her, but she only rolled her over to reveal the wicked curved knife under her. Katniss swung the backpack off from her back, unzipped it, then started quickly stuffing everything in it she could. She grabbed packs of freeze-dried food, bandages, extra socks, water bottles, a small tube of green medicine, a vial of amber golden liquid, and even a pair of sunglasses. The entire campsite was almost cleared, and Peeta hadn't done anything. Katniss noticed this, too, and turned around. "Are you gonna help?" she asked indignantly. Peeta gaped at her, staring, then said softly, "My mother was right. You are a fighter."

She rolled her eyes then tried to sound pleased when she said, "Why thank you. Now grab that backpack and stuff those sleeping bags in it." Peeta watched her for a few more moments, shook his head, then dropped to his knees beside her, rolling up the sleeping bag. They packed in silence for a few more moments, but Peeta spilled the cup of water he had poured himself when Katniss arched her back and howled in pain.

A knife with a black handle was sticking out of the back of Katniss' thigh. She fell backward so her legs were folded under her and screamed, "Peeta! Get down!" Peeta threw himself around and put his back to the tree and Katniss lunged to her left, grabbing the bow. She pulled an arrow from the bow, knocked it expertly, and pierced the scrawny boy through the heart. Katniss let the bow fall to her side again, stood up, and walked over to Peeta. She limped a bit, but other than that paid no attention to the 6 inch knife sticking out of the back of her leg. She ripped the nylon square down from the tree, shoved it in the backpack, zipped it up and then growled, "Come on, Peeta." Peeta, still paralyzed, nodded numbly and stood up, following a limping Katniss into the woods.

They walked in silence for a few moments, Katniss with an arrow ready, until Peeta couldn't stand the blood fountain any longer. "Um, shouldn't we take that out?" he asked tentatively, pointing to her leg. Katniss said through gritted teeth, "Not stopping till we find shelter."

Peeta allowed himself to appreciate as they walked how strong Katniss was. She knew so much about surviving and what could Peeta do? Make noise and get her killed and eat her food.

Katniss was almost at a run now, and every few steps she gave a grunt or moan. She almost cried in happiness when they rounded a particularly thick group of trees and found a cave. The entrance was small, but Katniss could tell that it would be huge inside. Katniss jumped through and Peeta followed. Katniss laid down on her stomach, not even bothering to lay anything down, and then gently pulled herself to one knee, so she was holding herself up with the opposite hand. "In- the orange bag- medicine-" she choked out. Peeta unzipped every pouch in the bag and dumped it out, then grabbed for the white tube. He held it up and Katniss nodded ferverently. He unscrewed the lid and squeezed a glob on his finger, but then noticed that the knife was still sticking out of her leg. The knife was buried to the hilt and bleeding more than Peeta was comfortable with.

"Take it out!" Katniss growled, shaking her head all around to distract herself. Peeta mouthed to the back of Katniss' head, "No, I can't, I-"

"TAKE IT OUT!" Katniss bellowed. Peeta reached forward, gripped the knife, and pulled it straight out. Katniss gave a great shudder, gagged a bit, then stuffed her knuckles in her mouth. She flopped down on her belly, grabbed the waist of her pants, pulled them down, and pulled the jacket down to cover her underwear. Peeta didn't have time to blush as he used a piece of clean cloth in the bag to wipe away as much blood as he could and smear the ointment all over the cut. He kept putting it on at the satisfied sounds Katniss was making. He guessed it had something numbing in it. There were no words on the tube but Peeta had a feeling it was for stab wounds. What else would a trained Career be carrying?

Katniss gasped into the floor for a moment while Peeta rubbed almost half of the tube on, then twisted around and said, "Thank you." Peeta nodded, still looking at her leg. "Bandaids," she whispered. Peeta grabbed the nearest box and tore it open, then dumped the contents out. He groaned. They were thin strip bandages, the kind you used for cuts on your finger. Katniss shook her head impatiently, then said, "Use them all, we just want to keep the dirt out."

So Peeta carefully laid the bandages in a row on the back of her leg, sealing the edges with the next bandaid up. Finally all the cut was covered, though the bandaids were soaked crimson, and then Katniss instructed, "Tear the leg off the bottom of my pants and tie it around it." Peeta reached for her pant leg, tore it off with a loud RIP and then double-knotted it around Katniss' leg. "Okay, that's all we can do for now." Katniss flipped over on her back, resting her foot in Peeta's lap.

"Roll out some sleeping bags," Katniss instructed. Peeta reached for the fluffiest one, unrolled it in one flick, and unzipped it. Katniss nodded her head toward it. Peeta noticed she was sweating. "Get in and get some sleep," Katniss said. Peeta shook his head, and Katniss sighed. "Peeta, get in."

Peeta smiled a bit and opened the bag wider. "Only if you do," he said. Katniss gestured to her leg. "I'll get blood all over you," she argued. Peeta pointed to his face and said sarcastically, "I'd rather be covered in Katniss blood than Cato blood."

She sighed impatiently, crab-walked over to the bag, and slowly slid in. Peeta got in next to her, pressing his face into her shoulder, and listened to her labored breathing. "You're gonna get out of here," Peeta whispered after a few minutes. Katniss shook her head, eyes closed and mouth wide open. Peeta nodded again, running one finger down the side of her neck. Katniss was taking shallow breaths and then heaving great ones, and Peeta tried to keep from doing the same. "If I die," Katniss said, sounding very tired, "just remember I love you."

***Ducks behind Katniss to save own life* I'm so sorry you guys! There was something wonky going on with the Doc Uploader and it wouldn't let me upload this document. I could upload any other one, but not this one. Yeah, I was pretty cheesed off. Lol. Well, school is officialy let out, so I can start the ninth grade next year! Yeah, I passed the grade. Shocking, right? Lol. Well, I hope I haven't lost all my readers. **

**Review, and stay fabulous. *wink***


	5. Chapter 5

"Please wake up."

He whispered it to himself, so quiet he wasn't even sure he'd really said, just made the movement with his mouth. It had been three days, and she had done nothing but lay there, breathing erratically. He was glad that she was breathing, but the rasping sound that she made when she inhaled sounded painful.

Peeta had spent most of these three days on his knees by her side, one hand on her stomach to make sure she was still breathing, the other clinging tightly to her hand. Blood had stained through the sleeping bag, down below her waist, and was all over the knees of Peeta's pants. He hadn't tried to move her, or wake her up. He didn't know anything about healing people.

"Please wake up."

Saying this was how he'd kept himself sane, like if he was alive enough to speak then she would be too, and if he was speaking then she _had _to, and to speak she would have to wake up but she _wouldn't_. She just wouldn't wake up.

"Please wake up."

Peeta hadn't seen anyone else who was competing in the Games since Katniss had killed those four people, and he hadn't left the cave.

"Please wake up."

Peeta and Katniss were starving.

"Please wake up."

Katniss hadn't stopped bleeding for the entire time.

"Please wake up."

Katniss's face was deathly pale.

"Please wake up."

Katniss was dying.

Rain started pouring outside, little drops splashing inside the cave and hitting Peeta in the face. Katniss was already sweating, so the added moisture soaked her hair.

"You're a fighter," Peeta cried, his voice breaking. He clutched to the sleeping bag, fingers going numb from squeezing so hard, and his arm shook. "Fight," he pleaded.

Peeta finally allowed himself to sob, really start crying, and he leaned his head down on her stomach. "Katniss," Peeta mouthed. Pain had taken all the air from his lungs, and loss was making him numb. "Don't do this," he begged her stomach.

He sat there until the rain lightened up and he could feel, through the poorly made foliage-cover that hid the mouth of the cave, the sunlight warming his back. Peeta shuddered and sat up again, feeling in his legs long gone. As soon as he blinked the tears out of his eyelashes he shrieked, then slapped a hand over his mouth.

A small, white parachute lay on the floor of the cave across from him and next to Katniss's body. He slowly leaned up and grabbed it, then twisted the lid off of the container. Inside was a small vial filled with red liquid and another vial, this one with a syringe attatched to it. A single, huge bandaid was pressed to the side of the container, wrapper looking crisp.

Peeta grabbed the first vial and twisted the miniscule lid off it, still sobbing a bit. He held it up and smelled it; a rusty scent wafted from the vial, and Peeta blanched at the thought that it could be blood. Holding it away from his face, he saw that it was, fortunately, not blood, but a pain-reducing syrup. He carefully picked up the other vial, this one being slightly larger, and pulled the needle away from it. The golden lid to the vial had a small pinhole in it, so Peeta pulled the orange cap off the needle, shoved the plunger down, and then stuck the needle in the lid. He pulled the plunger back out and then held it in front of his face, flicking the side of the syringe.

Peeta, struggling to take deep breaths now, laid the needle down and slowly, carefully, unzipped the sleeping bag and pulled it away from Katniss's body. Even thought she was on her back, he could see the huge hole in the back of her pantleg and when there blood was still feebly trickling out. Peeta tenderly put a hand on her leg to move the hole around so he could get at her skin when he heard someone whisper, "Don't you dare."

His head whipped up and his eyes widened. Putting a hand to her cheek he cried, "Katniss?" and then started crying again, resting his forehead on her stomach.

She did not move or say anything, so Peeta sat up and breathed, "Tell me what to do." Katniss didn't respond for a long time and for a moment Peeta was afraid that she had fallen asleep again, but then he looked down and saw her fingers were twitching toward the parachute.

"Give it," she breathed, and Peeta picked it up. "There should... be... a rubber... band in there," Katniss panted, eyes still closed. Peeta fumbled around in the container and saw that there was a midnight black band in there, so he pulled it out. "What do we do with this?" he asked quietly, holding it up.

"Put it on my arm," Katniss choked out.

Peeta quickly crouched under the low roof and moved to her other side. He pulled her arm out of the sleeping bag and saw that her fingertips, too, were pale. He hated seeing her without color; her handsome olive skin was one of the things he found most attractive about her.

"Double," she said, and Peeta twisted the band in on itself, then slid it over her wrist and up to her elbow. He stopped a little above her elbow joint and then reached for the needle. "Wait a second," Katniss panted, and Peeta sat, now completely alert, heart racing.

The longer her sat there, he could see a light blue vein pumping in her elbow. It was much too slow to match any healthy heartbeat, so Peeta asked tensely, "Can I do it now?"

Katniss only made a sound.

Peeta took one last deep breath, got a good grip on her arm, and then held up the needle. As much as someone with half of their blood gone and no use of their muscles, Katniss tensed. Peeta jammed the needle in the blue vein in her arm and pushed heavily on the plunger. Katniss held still for the entire time and then slowly, starting at her feet, her entire body relaxed and she fell back into the sleeping bag, limp.

"Did I kill you?" Peeta asked in horror, pupils dialating. "I did it wrong, didn't I?" Peeta looked around the cave as if someone there could help him, and then back to Katniss. "I killed you!" Peeta cried, throwing the empty vial at the cave wall. He tore insanely at his hair and was panting now.

"I'm... not... dead... unfortunately," Katniss croaked, and Peeta looked at her. "Other one," she said, eyes still closed. Peeta, trembling from head to foot, grabbed the other vial and screwed the lid off. "Are you sure?" he asked, and Katniss answered by opening her mouth. Peeta held the vial over her mouth and slowly started to tip it. The red liquid, though it looked thick in the vial, trickled quickly over the side and a steady stream splashed in her mouth. She started to cough and Peeta stopped pouring it, moving to help her sit up. He had to hold her head up because she didn't have enough strength, and then he laid her back down when she grunted. "The rest," she instructed, and Peeta poured the remainder of the vial in her mouth. She pressed her lips together and shuddered a bit, a red droplet forming at the corner of her mouth. It slowly dripped down the side of her face and into her ear. Peeta wiped it away.

"Oh, look, Katniss," Peeta said, a weak attempt at sarcasm, "they gave us a bandaid, like that'll help." He unwrapped it and then held it up to his nose; the padded part was an odd green color. It had a generic medicine smell, so Peeta peeled the rest of the wrapper off and centered it over her stab wound.

"How long since you ate?" Katniss asked, cringing away from Peeta's cold fingers. Every word seemed to cause her pain, and her abdomen tightened every time she opened her mouth. Peeta said quietly, "I ate a bit this morning. Want something?" Katniss said, "No."

"I think you should eat something on top of that medicine," Peeta said, and he used his feet to push himself backward and reach for one of the two backpacks. He unzipped it and dug around inside, then came out with an apple. The red skin was tough, but it wasn't rotten and there were no worms.

Katniss's breath had returned to its panting, like it had been before, and Peeta went back over to her. Night was slowly falling outside, and Peeta saw through the foliage curtain that the Gamemakers had been so cruel as to put fireflies in the arena, as though this were some paradise. Peeta set the apple down next to Katniss, where she could reach it easily, and then scooched away, afraid he was crowding her.

"Get over here," she panted, and Peeta smiled a bit. He was shivering now, but when he slid inside the sleeping bag he could feel that Katniss was probably ten degrees higher than she should've been. "You're hot," he said, leaning up on his elbow. Katniss, although she expressed no emotion, asked, "Is now really the time to woo me?" She cracked open one eye and Peeta saw that the whites of her eyes were run through with streaks of red, and she said, "Lay down. I'll be alright in the morning." She slowly, painfull, moved her arm up so that she would be cradling him when he laid down. He put his head on her shoulder and wrapped another arm over her torso, careful to keep from bumping her leg.

XOXOXO

Peeta woke up freezing. He immediately grabbed the sleeping bag and pulled it tighter around him, but then he realized that there shouldn't have been so much extra space. His eyes shot open and he sat up. "Katniss?" he asked, panicked. The side of his pants was soaked in her blood, although it was dry. He stood up, trying too-quickly to blink the sleep from his eyes. Desperate to be able to see clearly, he balled up his fists and rubbed them ferociously in his eyes. "Katniss?" he asked again.

He pushed through the foliage curtain, still bleary eyed, to see a girl with red hair tied up, stalking toward the edge of the river where Katniss's boots sat, one tipped over. She had't heard Peeta yell! He clamped a hand over his mouth and stepped back into the cave, to the point where he was hidden from her sight but could still see her.

_Where was Katniss?_

He looked around the cave, hoping maybe she was pressed against the wall, having heard the girl come near. He then realized that she shouldn't even be able to walk, unless that medicine was magic.

The girl with the blazing red hair squatted down next to the river, poking at Katniss's boots, and Peeta saw a circle of sunlight, like the light had hit something reflective. The girl with the red hair died. It happened that quickly.

Peeta didn't even have time to gasp, or realize what was happening, when Katniss sprung out of the tree the girl had squatted under, a two-foot, wickedly curved knife clenched tightly in her hands. The knife went through the back of the girl's neck and she slumped forward, Katniss grunting on top of her. Katniss stood up, panting as though she'd just run a marathon, and then tossed the knife to the ground. A loud cannon shot shook Peeta from his trance and he sprinted forward to Katniss.

Katniss grabbed the girl by the back of her shirt and jerked her back, sending her sprawling. A gush of red covered her neck and Katniss smiled down at her, eyes wide. Peeta stopped a few feet away from her, staring, and then nodded meekly. "Good job," he said, and Katniss's head jerked up to look at him. When he took a step closer, Peeta saw that her eyes were completely dilated. She smiled up at him, and Peeta frowned. He shivered.

Katniss stalked back over and picked up her knife, then moved back over to the girl, whose eyes had slipped closed. She shoved her feet back in her boots and then waved her arm, motioning for Peeta to follow her. As they jogged back to the cave Peeta asked, still a bit shaken, "Your leg. How is it?" Katniss turned her pants to find the cut, which the bandaid was still firmly stuck over, and Peeta saw that no blood had even soaked through.

"Hungry?" Katniss asked, her voice a bit too excited for one trapped in the Hunger Games. She knelt down next to the backpack and pulle dout a plain white package. She tore it open with her teeth and stuffed one piece in her mouth, then tossed the package up to Peeta. "There's only two left, you know," Katniss said eagerly. "Two left and then we can go home."

She stood up and Peeta nodded. "Good," he said simply, and then Katniss leaned out around the edge of the cave. "Foxface is gone," Katniss said, and Peeta frowned. "Foxface?" he asked. Katniss nodded rapidly and said, bouncing a little, "I call her Foxface because her face reminds me of a fox. Wanna go find those other tributes?"

She ran from the cave and Peeta dashed after her, thoroughly confused now. "You want to go and _find _them?" Peeta asked. Katniss stopped running, still facing away from him. She said, with her back turned, "I'm not going to stay in this arena any longer than I have to." She reached for her belt, where, Peeta was appalled to see, the two-foot knife hung, blood still dripping from the curved tip. Katniss stalked forward angrily and left Peeta to trail behind her, without protection.

XOXOXO

"Arrow," Katniss mouthed, and Peeta reached in the quiver to get one. She then nodded once and he retreated into the hollowed-out tree that they had been so lucky to find. He clutched tightly to the quiver, face white, and watched as Katniss pulled her arm slowly back, aiming at the huge black boy in the field on the edge of the woods.

Peeta could see Katniss's pulse in her neck; since she had been given that medicine she had been a lot more physical and, Peeta thought, almost anxious to run into another tribute.

Katniss took another breath, pushed her shoulders back, and then loosened her fingers. The arrow flew from her grasp and before it even hit the target she smiled, letting the bow fall to her side. She did not move more than that, however, so Peeta didn't either. A cannon shot boomed and Katniss threw one fist in the air, smiling over at Peeta.

Peeta looked down at the ground to keep an eye on his footing, and when he looked back up at Katniss, she was being strangled by a tall, muscular boy with slanted eyes. Katniss's face was red and she was kicking her feet. Her bow had fallen to the ground, a few feet in front of Peeta. In Katniss's struggling the boy had turned around, still trying to snap her neck, and had failed to spot Peeta.

Peeta lunged forward and grabbed the bow. "I'll kill you!" the boy yelled angrily, and Peeta knocked an arrow to the bow the way he'd seen Katniss do so many times before. He pulled it back, trying to be still and calm the way Katniss always was, and took a shaky breath. He couldn't keep his hands from shaking, he couldn't get a clear shot-

The boy spun Katniss around again, stumbling to his knees. Katniss saw what Peeta was doing before the boy did and elbowed him in the throat. He coughed and released her, and she leapt forward, ducking under the arrow that Peeta had sent flying. She fell to his feet, and the boy gasped. Peeta had hit him in the chest, but the arrow had gone in crookedly. It hadn't killed him yet. Katniss rolled around at the now frozen Peeta's feet, and then she shot up. She lunged at the boy, who was groping blindly at the air, and slashed the wicked knife across his throat. Blood splashed forward and into Katniss's face, and the boy fell backward on his legs.

Peeta, panting heavily, moved forward to help Katniss up, took in a stunned breath and jumped back. Although the boy was so obviously dead- the cannon shot had proved so- Katniss was now sitting on his chest, raising the knife high above her head and then bringing it down on his body in places that didn't make sense, places that wouldn't kill anyone. When Peeta stepped forward to grab Katniss's shoulders he saw flashes of horrible things. He saw the moment that the knife stabbed through his neck and into the soft dirt under him, saw when the knife came back out, blood-soaked veins coming with it. She saw Katniss missed his face and sliced off his ear, and then when the motion knocked his head sideways, he saw that blood splashed up, like a fountain, when she plunged the blade into the soft skin under his jaw. She was making animalistic sounds, sounds that humans had never made before, except maybe in the Games, when they were fighting for their lives. Peeta closed his eyes against this, tried to close his ears against Katniss's grunting, but he didn't turn off his hearing in time to miss the announcer's panicked voice.

"Stop! Stop! Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victors of the Seventy-Fourth Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark! I give you- the tributes of District Twelve!"

Katniss looked up, shocked, knife poised over the boy's mutilated body. Peeta gagged and grabbed Katniss's shoulder. "We have to win, Peeta," she said, still staring hungrily at the boy's body. He held tighter onto her shoulder, heart thumping so hard it hurt. "We can win this," Katniss said through clenched teeth.

Peeta's face crumpled like a paper cup in a bonfire, "We _did _win, Katniss. We won."

Katniss frowned, gripped hre knife tighter, and although she didn't move from her spot, she said a bit impatiently, "We're wasting time."

**Well, I was inspired you guys. I woke up at 11 (I have to because Jerry Springer is on at noon) but I couldn't get my butt out of bed so I got my iPod and listened to songs off the Hunger Games soundtrack until I finally figured out what I wanted to do with this. Can anyone guess? And, as I don't own any of the Hunger Games books (my birthday is July 2nd, though) jlhumph was so kind as to relay the last page of the Hunger Games to me, and for that I am forever grateful. Lol. **

**Well, I've started the next chapter already, so maybe I'll spoil y'all and post tomorrow. What the heck, it's summer!**

**Stay fabulous,  
~Paige**


	6. Chapter 6

**I have no shame in admitting that this chapter made me cry as I wrote it and cry again as I reread it. I do have shame, however, in acknowledging the fact that it's been, oh, nine months since I updated. I am a monster.  
Have you heard that song, by the way? Monster by Kanye West, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj and Bon Iver. Well, that was off topic.  
Either way, this chapter is up and I hope all you beautiful people can find it in your spacious hearts to forgive me. So much has happened.  
I own nothing except the plot, and this one CD I have, Watch the Throne by Kanye West and Jay-Z. Jelly?**

* * *

"Get off me!"

"Katniss, calm down! It's okay now! We're okay!"

She wrenched out of the doctor's grip and swung at him, screaming wordlessly. There wasn't much room on the tiny hovercraft to fight with each other, but Katniss had seemed to find a way. She knocked over a metal tray on wheels and sent all kinds of tools flying, and Peeta tried to grab her. "She'll hurt herself!" he cried, but another, and much stronger, nurse grabbed him from behind and pulled him away. "Sir, your injuries!" the doctor said, and pulled him aside into a smaller room, seperated with a thick sheet of glass. Katniss kicked at the doctor again, eyes bloodshot and wild. All the moving had disrupted her bandage and now blood was flowing freely from the wound on the back of her thigh. The doctor gave up on trying to stop her and instead moved to a panel on the wall. He jammed down a large black button and said into the speaker, "We need to land, now, I repeat, we need to land _immediately_."

XOXOXO

Five men had to struggle to get Katniss off the hovercraft and across the landing pad to the hospital, where tons of people dressed in their weird Capitol fashion stood with cameras, gawking. Every few seconds a man yelled out and lagged behind the procession, holding his jaw or private parts. Never did the doctors have a grip on more than two of Katniss's limbs for more than five seconds, so the trek into the hospital was swift.

"Get off me! I'll kill you!" Katniss screamed, thrashing wildly around. A few children who had been standing with their parents, huge flowers pinned to their jackets and tied in their hair, jumped back, cowering.

"I'll kill you!" Katniss shrieked at the doctors, who were still trying to shush her, as they carried her through the previously-calm waiting room. Patients and guests pressed themselves flat against the wall, staring and whispering madly. Katniss tensed all her muscles and went completely rigid, then threw her head back and screamed. The doctors took the opportunity of Katniss's immobility to run down the hall, still carrying her between the five of them, like she was a trampoline that a person in a burning building could jump onto, each of them with one of her limbs.

"Calm down, sweetheart, it's okay," Haymitch, who had heard her screaming from down the hall, said in a soft voice, walking alongside the doctors. Katniss had given up trying to stay tense the entire time and turned her head to look at Haymitch, who put a hand on her cheek. She turned her head and bit his hand. Any other time he would've yelled at her or stormed off, but he only shook the pain out of his hand and kept walking, Effie and Cinna, both trying to hide tears, following at a distance behind them.

"No, no!" Katniss cried, panicking now. The doctors tried to set her down on a table and scrambled to get supplies, leaving three of them to try and hold her down. Katniss wrenched her leg free and kicked one man in the face, and spit at another man. "You can't kill him!" Katniss yelled, trying to get her wrists away from the doctors, "Leave Peeta alone!"

The sound of her screaming made everyone cringe, but Haymitch wouldn't relent. "Sweetheart, look, it's me, it's me, you're out, you're okay, it's over, you and Peeta are safe."

Katniss stopped kicking and screaming for a moment, long enough that the doctors could bring up the restraints and fasten her to the bedrails. Her chest was positively heaving now, her pupils were dilated, her leg was bleeding everywhere, and she screwed her eyes shut, trying to breathe.

Dirt caked her clothes and skin, along with her and various other people's blood; her hair had been ripped out of its braid and now hung wildly around her shoulders; her face was afraid and tearstained; every part of her body was aching from fighting back so hard; her stomach flipped uncomfortably, she was going to throw up, she couldn't stop it, she felt it at her lips, it came up, she was choking-

Haymitch lunged forward and ripped the restraint off her left arm so that she could sit up and spit it out. Haymitch, clenching his jaw so hard he thought his teeth would break, grabbed a nearby garbage can and held it under her face, catching the bile. She coughed and spit it out, and once she was done and her throat wasn't burning anymore, she gave one more heave and then sat up. She tipped her head back, so quickly that Haymitch couldn't tell what was happening and lean away, and she rocked her head forward, sending her forehead crashing into Haymitch's. He yowled and stepped back, and by this time Peeta had escaped from his own hospital room and was being held at the door by two doctors.

"Haymitch, do something!" he cried, trying to get past the guards.

Haymitch spun back around and saw that they had gotten Katniss's arm strapped back down. Every part of her body that wasn't tied down- being her torso- heaved up as if someone had shocked her repeatedly with the paddles from a crash cart. "Can't you knock her out or something?" Haymitch asked, trying to keep hysteria from creeping into his voice. Never before had he seen a tribute so... broken.

The doctor who was trying to hold her torso down grunted, "Can't unless she stays still."

Peeta broke through from the guards, watching Katniss convulse from Haymitch's side. He clamped his hands over his mouth, sobbing, knees threatening to buckle. "Haymitch," he moaned.

"No! No!" Katniss said, eyes slipping closed. "She's going to pass out!" one doctor warned. Everyone in the room, and a few people who had been passing by, was watching as Katniss cried, eyes rolling madly in her head. "No! No!" she yelled, jerking slowing down, "Don't let them- Peeta- get out- NOOO!"

Peeta cried a bit harder and Haymitch vacantly noticed Effie start sobbing behind him, but he was too busy watching Katniss. Katniss wasn't writhing to get away anymore; she was shaking and rolling around as though she were in pain. "No-ho-ho..." she sobbed, eyes finally closing all the way.

"Get me that fluid! She's hallucinating!" one angry doctor yelled, and a needle connected to a tube was stabbed in Katniss's arm. Haymitch, still watching her intently, stepped forward. "Daddy!" Katniss cried, and Peeta finally fell to his knees, Effie gave a loud cry, and Cinna gasped, holding his head in his hands. "Daddy! Get out! Run, Daddy! RUN!" She panted loudly for a few seconds, tried to clear her throat, and shrieked at an octave thought to be impossible for humans to reach, "DADDY!"

Haymitch stepped forward, put a hand on her cheek, and said softly to her, "I'm right here, sweetheart. Daddy's right here." Katniss's face crumpled and she tried to open her eyes. "Where's my sedative?" another doctor demanded.

"Daddy's right here," Haymitch said, brushing Katniss's wild hair back from her face. "I love you, Katniss," he whispered. "Daddy loves you."

The head doctor pushed down on a plunger, and Katniss fell asleep.

XOXOXO

"It has been reported that there will be a delay on all fruit coming from any outlying districts, as the train cars have broken down, so be sure to stock up on what you can. Gas prices have gone through the roof, so it might be wise to just take a walk, folks." There was a fake chuckle and then a trumpet piece, and everyone drew a collective breath. The people of District Twelve all huddled forward to get a better view at the huge screen in the square, on which the Capitol news was being projected.

"And finally, the topic everyone's been talking about, right, Lark?" the first announced asked his news partner, and he responded, "Right you are, my friend, it's the seventy-fourth annual Hunger Games that's got everyone buzzing."

Gale's eyes narrowed and he pushed by a man to get a better view. "Rumor has it that one of the two victors this year is having some trouble readjusting to the world outside the arena."

Lark chimed in, "Wow, wow. Which one is it?"

Gale rolled his eyes. _He was always soft._

"I'll bet nobody expected this," Lark said, shuffling his papers importantly. Gale nodded his head to himself, frowning. "I expected it," he mumbled to himself.

"Katniss Everdeen was reportedly seen being forcibly carried into the President Snow Hospital just outside the Square just yesterday afternoon," Lark said, and Gale's heart stopped. Lark continued, "Alright, mothers, you may want to move your kids out of the room, these images are a bit disturbing. Let's take a look."

The men in their spinning chairs turned around to see a projection of footage that someone had taken from a helicopter of Katniss being carried into the hospital, thrashing and kicking and screaming. Gale swallowed hard, trying to keep his face indifferent. "Woah, Lark, and if you listen close enough you can hear her screaming. Again, parents, you may want to relocate your children for the moment. Disturbing it is, my friends."

They rewound the tape and everyone strained their ears to listen, and, just to help the people along, the news people put captions of what Katniss had screamed across the bottom of the screen, using asterisks to blank out the swear words. "I'll kill you!" the screen read, and Gale spun on his heel, stalking out of the square. He received a few sympathetic looks as he left.

"And here's wishing her a speedy recovery," Lark said, and Gale gave a shout, tearing at his dark hair.

XOXOXO

"How much longer?" Peeta demanded in a hard voice. No one answered, and he continued pacing from the high window, looking down on Katniss's bed.

He hated the huge group of doctors in white coats with tablets crowded around Katniss while she was in a medicine-induced coma, taking notes on her like she was some kind of animal. Katniss and the researchers were seperated by a curved wall of glass, like they were at a zoo. Peeta, Haymitch, Effie, Cinna and the head doctor had stayed in this too-white room for the three days that Katniss had been unconsious, some pacing and crying and cursing and drinking. Effie was the one who smelled like alcohol.

"The theory is-" the head doctor started, but Peeta turned on him and bellowed, "Stop telling us your stupid theories and wake her up!" The doctor gave him an even look and then continued to speak. He said, "The theory is that the reason she was behaving so erratically once she was out of the arena is that the shock of... what the Games entail, along with previous trauma, like her family dying, has tampered with her ability to seperate fantasy from reality." The doctor turned to Haymitch, who had been staring at his feet, and asked, and eyebrow quirked, "Do you know what hijacking is, sir?"

Haymitch nodded.

"Well, hijacking is a purposeful way to spur the same effect as what has happened here. She hasn't been implanted with different memories, per say, it's just that... well..."

Peeta stopped pacing and puffed his chest out. "Well, what?" he asked angrily. The doctor continued a bit sheepishly, "The researchers have proposed the idea that Miss Everdeen believes she is still a participant in the Hunger Games."

The only sound in the room was Effie's steady hiccupping and the beeping of Katniss's heart monitor over the speaker hooked up to this observation room.

"So what are you going to do about it?" Peeta asked, and the doctor spread his hands. "I'm afraid, at this point, we have no remedy to this predicament. This has never been recorded before."

Peeta yelled angrily and kicked at a trash bin, sending it flying into the opposite wall. Effie flinched, but everyone's faced remained either pained or blank. The doctor nodded his head and then left the room, and a few people from the research group started to move away from Katniss's bed.

Peeta sat in his chair next to Haymitch, panting, and staring down at Katniss. She was still much too pale for his liking, the beautiful olive color seeming to be permanently gone from her skin, and she was still very skinny, and-

"Peeta?"

Peeta shot up out of his hair and asked quickly, "Did you hear that?" Everyone shook their heads and looked at him, concerned. Peeta moved to the window and pressed his palms against it. This time, it was louder.

"Peeta?"

This time, Cinna heard it. "Katniss," he breathed, and the group of researchers flocked back over to her, pencils poised over their pads. "Where's Peeta?" Katniss mumbled, trying to sit up. There were all kinds of tubes attatched to her arms and a breathing tube in her nose, and her leg was wrapped thickly, stiff under the crisp sheets.

She looked around at all the researchers, who were scribbling rapidly and whispering to each other, and then up at the window where Peeta and Haymitch were staring down at her, tears streaming down both their faces.

"They've got Peeta," Katniss mumbled, more to herself than anyone else, and she shifted anxiously in her bed. Her heart monitor started to go up. The head doctor bristled.

"They've," Katniss's eyes widened and she sat up, pulling anxiously at the tubes, "they've got Peeta." She looked away from the researchers in front of her and up to the window. "Peeta!" she screamed. The head doctor rushed over to the wall and said sternly, "Get that sedative going." Another doctor, one completely covered in blue scrubs, pushed another button and then flashed the thumbs-up sign at the window. Everyone waited for a moment, but Katniss didn't settle down. She shuffled her feet back and forth and glared at everyone. "Let him go!" Katniss growled, but the researchers only wrote on their pads.

"Why isn't it working? Why isn't the sedative doing anything?" Peeta asked, turning to the doctor. He pushed by Peeta, snapping blue latex gloves on his hands. He started out the door and down a long set of stairs, entering Katniss's room through a door under the window.

Katniss had pulled the tube connected to the sedative out of her arm and was now tugging at the restraints. The head doctor rushed toward her and she yelled, "Let Peeta go!"

He put both his hands up and slowly moved toward the thick wall of glass; all the researchers moved out of his way. She stared angrily at the doctor who said calmly, "Katniss, my name is Dr. White, I'm not going to hurt you-"

Katniss jerked her right arm forward, as if she were going to punch someone, and the plastic restraint snapped. Cinna covered his mouth with both hands, and everyone in the observation room continued to watch breathlessly. She quickly undid the other restraint and then lunged for her feet. She got them both undone before Dr. White could get through the pane of glass, and by this time Katniss was out of her bed. They had given her white cotton pants and a pale pink shirt, after the female nurses had showered her.

Katniss pushed past all the researchers, who made vain attempts to grab her arms, and looked madly around the room. Finally Peeta couldn't take it anymore and he dashed down the stairs, followed by Haymitch.

"We have to get out of here!" Katniss yelled a Peeta, pushing by a few doctors. Peeta rushed forward and grabbed both her forearms, trying to keep her still. "We have to leave, we have to run," Katniss whispered over and over again. "Before they kill us," she urged, eyes wide and bloodshot. Peeta could only stare at her, mouth hanging open, tears filling his eyes.

Katniss wasn't looking at him, shaking his arms. Peeta didn't know who that was. Not anymore.


End file.
